Compressed-gas circuit breaker with rotary blast valve surrounding the arcing chamber



April 23, 1968 F. A. AZINGER, JR COMPRESSED-GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH ROTARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE ARCING CHAMBER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1965 BY W ATTORNEY April 23, 1968 F. A. AZINGER, JR

COMPRESSED-GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH ROTARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE] ARCING CHAMBER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1965 A I I a I m 5 z. E mm mm mm mm Q mm 8 w 8. .K IIHNI IlIII II L W H 6 w mm 8 E mm Q h a h 6U mm .vm ww vm mm on mm wm a 25 @WW mw :2? mm L J x B mm v w m B on w mm 8 m m mm mm mm m lg E Q .5 Z a 5 Q7 p w n I. mm NN a Q y 2 @1 Y w zz/zz/zn 7 I I I I f I a I I I I I mm w 7 mm a a H m 9; 4

April 23, 1968 F. A. AZINGER, JR 3,379,847

COMPRESSED-GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH ROTARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE ARCING CHAMBER Filed Jan. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 2 2 H INHHHHIWHHIHHHHHHI 11 71. U vm m 'mmliiililillu mm l I I I I I I I I ll mm 2 AK 6 M A N 7 mm m I, If I I I I f MIN. h

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m 1968 F. A. AZINGER, JR 3,379,847

UIT BRE COMPRESSED-GAS CIRC AKER WITH ROTARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE ARCING CHAMBER Filed Jan. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A ril 23, 1968 F. A. AZINGER, JR 3,3

COMPRESSED-GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH ROTARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE ARCING CHAMBER Filed Jan. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet a United States Patent 3,379,847 COMPRESSED-GAS CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH R0- TARY BLAST VALVE SURROUNDING THE ARC- ING CHAMBER Frederick A. Azinger, Jr., Churchill, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 428,907 12 Uaims. (Cl. 200-148) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A compressed-gas circuit breaker has one or more arcing chambers surrounding the separable contacts to direct the gas flow during interruption. A rotary blast valve, surrounding the one or more arcing chambers, is synchronously actuated by the contact-operating mechanism for an immediately-available high-pressure gas flow. In one arrangement, separate manifolds for the several series breaks are sequentially filled with compressed gas for ensuring simultaneous gas flow at the several breaks. In another arrangement, two such arcing chambers are carried at the ends of a hollow rotating contact arm rotatably mounted on a bearing portion of a high-pressure reservoir.

This invention relates, generally, to valves and, more particularly, to rotary valves for controlling the flow of a compressed gas to an operating mechanism or toan interrupter in a circuit breaker of the gas-blast type.

In apparatus utilizing a compressed gas an important part of the gas flow system is the blast valve. The function of the blast valve is to provide quickly a large opening for the flow of gas. The size of the opening and the speed at which the valve opens directly affect the flow of the gas into an interrupter in a circuit breaker or into a cylinder containing an operating piston. Heretofore, the blast valves utilized in circuit breakers of the gas-blast type have been generally of the poppet type.

An object of this invention is to provide a rotary valve which can be utilized as a blast valve in a circuit breaker or to control the flow of a pressure fluid to an operating mechanism. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a rotary valve which surrounds the interrupting chamber of a circuit interrupter of the gas-blast type.

A further object of the invention is to utilize the interrupting chamber wall as part of the rotary valve structure.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rotary valve for controlling the flow of a pressurized fluid in sequence to a plurality of circuit interrupters or operating mechanisms.

A still further object of the invention is to provide for admitting short blasts or puffs of interrupting gas to a circuit interrupter or of pressure fluid to an operating mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to coordinate the operation of a rotary blast valve with the operation of the contact members of a circuit breaker.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve which is capable of opening a large port area with a very short stroke or physical movement, thereby obtaining very fast opening times without resorting to large valve seats.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve whose drive motion is perpendicular to the axis of gas flow rather than parallel to the axis as in standard valves.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a valve which can be used equally well with the gas flow from a large outside chamber, through the valve to one 3,379,847 Patented Apr. 23, 1968 central chamber or from the one central chamber through the valve into either a large outside chamber or to a plurality of circuits.

Stil another object of the invention is to provide a valve which can be made for any opening capability without significantly decreasing the operating efiiciency and without increasing the necessary drive stroke.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve which can be utilized over a wide range of pressures without requiring adjustments of screws, springs, packing and other items.

Other objects of the invention will be explained fully hereinafter or will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the generally cylindrical wall of the interrupting chamber of an interrupter for a circuit breaker is utilized to support the inner sleeve of a rotary valve. The outer sleeve is r-otatably disposed on the inner sleeve, A manifold surrounds the sleeves and is connected to a source of high pressure gas. A plurality of rows of holes or openings are radially machined in the sleeves and the wall of the interrupting chamber. When the outer sleeve is rotated to align the holes, gas is admitted into the interrupting chamber. The outer sleeve is rotated by a cam actuated by one of the rods which open and close the contact members of the breaker.

For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference may be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjuntcion with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of one pole unit of a circuit breaker embodying principal features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, in section, of one of the interrupter units of the multibreak arc-extinguishing assembly shown in FIG. 1, the contact members being closed;

FIG. 3 is a view, in section, similar to FIG. 2, the contact members being partly opened;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, partly in plan and partly in section, of one of the rotary blast valves utilized in the interrupters;

FIG. 5 is a view, in section, taken along the line V--V in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VIVI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view, similar to FIG. 2, illustrating interrupters utilizing a modified rotary blast valve;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view, partly in plan, and partly in section, of the modified rotary blast valve shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of one of the valves; and

FIGS. 10 to 13, inclusive, are fragmentary views of an extra high voltage interrupter utilizing a rotary valve of the type herein disclosed.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown one pole unit of a circuit breaker which may be generally of the type described in Patent No. 3,057,983 issued Oct. 9, 1962, to R. N. Yeckley, I. Sucha and B. P. Baker, and assigned to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The structure shown in FIG. 1 comprises a generally cylindrical steel tank 2 having end covers 3 removably attached thereto to permit access to the interior of the tank and removal of the arc-extinguishing assembly 4 disposed inside the tank. Supporting cylinders or collars 5 extend upwardly from opposite ends of the tank 2 and have terminal bushings mounted thereon in a manner well known in the art. The terminal bushings conduct the current to be interrupted into the interior of the tank 2. In addition, the lower ends 6 of the terminal bushings support the arcextinguishing assembly 4 in bridging relation therewith.

The tank 2 may contain an interrupting gas, for example sulfur hexafiuoride (SP gas, at a relatively low pressure, for example 45 p.s.i.g. A reservoir 7, which is mounted inside the tank 2 at one end of the tank, contains SP gas at a relatively high pressure, for example 225 p.s.i.g. An auxiliary hi h pressure storage tank (not shown) may be mounted underneath the tank 2 and connected to the reservoir 7 through a pipeline 8 and an insulating tube 9. The interrupting gas may be withdrawn from the tank 2, compressed by a compressor (not shown) and stored in the auxiliary high pressure tank and the hi h pressure reservoir 7. In this manner, sufficient high pressure gas is available for several repeated operations of the breaker without operation of the compressor. If desired, the tank 2 may contain an insulating gas such as air, and small quantities of interrupting gas admitted from the reservoir 7 through a valve as described hereinafter.

An operating mechanism (not shown), which may be of the pneumatic type well known in the art, is housed exteriorly of the tank 2. One mechanism may be utilized for operating all three pole units of a three-phase breaker. The mechanism is connected by means of a suitable linkage to a lever 11, which is connected by means of a connecting rod 12 to an operating lever 13 pivotally mounted at 14. A tripping mechanism of a type well known in the circuit breaker art is also mounted exteriorly of the tank 2.

The arc-extinguishing assembly 4 includes a rigid framework maintained in fixed position by insulating support bars 15, the ends of which are bolted to support casting members 16, 17 by bolts 18 and 19, respectively. The support members 16 and 17 are secured to the lower ends 6 of the terminal bushings. The high pressure reservoir 7 is attached to the right-hand support member 17.

The arc-extinguishing assembly 4 comprises three interrupting units 21, 22 and 23 which are spaced longitudinally along the interior of the tank 2. The interrupting unit 21 is attached to the support member 17. The units 22 and 23 are each attached to the support bars by bolts 20. The contact members of all of the interrupting units are opened simultaneously by two spaced insulating operating rods 24 which move in a reciprocating manner during the opening and closing operation.

The right-hand ends of the rods 24 are connected by means of links 25 to the operating lever 13. The links 25, only one of which is shown, are pivotally attached to the lever 13 by pins 26. The left-hand ends of the rods 24, only one of which is shown, are interconnected by a bridging spring plate 27 which is biased toward to left by a compression spring 28.

The contact members of the interrupting unit are retained in the closed position by the breaker operating mechanism which, as previously explained, is connected to one end of the lever 11. When the tripping mechanism releases the operating mechanism, the lever 11 and the connecting rod 12 are permitted to move toward the right and the spring 28 drives the operating rods 24 toward the left to open the contact members of the interrupting units. At the end of the opening operation the spring plate 27 strikes a bumper stop 29, thereby bringing the entire movable contact assembly to a cushioned stop.

The spaced operating rods 24 are also bridged by a plurality of cross arms 31 which are spaced axially along the rods 24. The cross arms 31 are pivotally attached to the two spaced insulating operating rods 24 and form a generally ladder-like structure. As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, each cross arm 31 is attached by means of a guide pin 32 to bifurcated end portions 33 of a tubular movable contact member 34. Each tubular contact member 34 has elongated slots 35 provided longitudinally therein.

In addition, each movable contact tube 34 functions as an orifice during the opening operation of the interrupter and maintains a relatively tight fit in an opening 36 of an 4 interrupting or arcing chamber 37 having a generally cylindrical wall 38. A flanged end 39 of the wall 38 may be attached to the support member 17. The cylindrical member 33 is preferably composed of a suitable high temperature material, such as polytetrafiuoroethylene, generally known under the trade name Teflon.

As also shown in FIG. 2, a cluster of finger contact members 41, having a base 42, engage the movable contact member 34 when it is in its closed position. The base 42 is attached to the support member 17 by an arc horn 43 which may be threaded into the support member 17. The are born 43 may be located off center to cause the are drawn between the contact member 34 and the finger members 41 when they are separated to transfer readily to the arc horn 43.

In order to assist in guiding the opening and closing movement of each tubular movable contact member 34, a staionary guide cylinder 44 is provided. A flanged end 45 of the cylinder 44 is attached to a support member 17 for the interrupter unit 22. The right-hand end of the cylinder 44 is slotted to provide contact fingers 46 which slidably engage the movable contact member 34. The cylinder 44 is slotted to provide contact lngers 46 which eeiving the cross arm 31 which, as previously explained, is attached to the movable contact member 34 by means of the pin 32. A sleeve 48, which is attached to the cylinder 44, encompasses the contact fingers 46 to prevent a corona discharge from the ends of the fingers. A Teflon guide ring 49 is attached to the end of the sleeve 48 and slidably engages the movable contact member 34. Since Teflon has a relatively low coefiicient of friction, the friction between the movable contact member 34, the guide ring 49 and the Teflon member 38 is relatively low. A blast shield 51 may be provided around the contact assembly to prevent the gas blast discharged through the slots 35 from striking other parts of the structure.

In order to control the flow of the interrupting gas from the reservoir 7 into the interrupting chamber 37, a rotary blast valve 52 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, a sleeve 53 is rotatably mounted on a stationary sleeve which, in turn, is mounted on the cylindrical wall 38 of the interrupting chamber 37. A plurality of holes or openings 54 are machined radially through the sleeves 53, 50 and the wall 38. In the structure shown, three circumferential rows of holes are provided. Each row or circle of holes contains eight holes. Thus, 24 holes are provided in the valve.

As shown in FIG. 4, an O-ring gasket 55 is provided around each axial row of three holes in the inner sleeve 50. The O-ring gaskets are disposed in grooves machined in the outer surface of the sleeve 50. The size of the holes and the spacing of the O-rings are governed by the fact that for an eight hole circle the circumference of the outside of the inside cylinder must exceed the equivalent of 16 holes and O-ring slots. This is necessary for the valve to close. The overall size of the valve depends upon the physical application. The area of the holes and the area of the opening inside the valve must be sufiicient to provide the required valve opening area. The opening capacity of the valve is a function of the number of circles of holes and the inside diameter of the inner cylinder. Any number of extra circles of holes can be added to increase the effective opening. This can be done by changing only the length of the cylinders, and will not in any way change the operating time, required travel or operating efficiency.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, a manifold 56 surrounds the valve 52. The manifold 56 is preferably made in two sections or halves having flanged portions 57 which may be bolted together. As shown in FIG. 2, the manifold 56 may be attached to the support member 17 by a flanged end portion 58. The manifold 56 is connected to the high pressure reservoir 7 through a passageway 59 in the support member 17. The manifold 56 is also connected to the support member 17' of the interrupter unit 22 through an insulating blast tube 61. Likewise, the manifold 56 of the interrupter unit 22 is connected by means of another blast tube 61 to the interrupter unit 23. The rotary valves 52 for the interrupter units 22 and 23 are each similar to the valve 52 for the interrupter unit 21. When relatively low gas pressures are utilized, the sleeve 50 may be omitted and the rotatable sleeve 53 mounted directly on the wall 38.

In order to coordinate the operation of the rotary valves for all of the interrupter units with the operation of the contact members, provision is made for operating the rotary valves by means of the operating rods 24 which operate the contact members. As shown most clearly in FIG. 5, each sleeve member 53 of a rotary valve 52 is rotated by means of a cam 62 which is attached to one of the operating rods 24 by an angle portion 63 bolted to the rod 24 by means of bolts 64. The cam 62 engages a roller 65 mounted in a bracket 66 attached to one end of a push rod 67. The other end of the push rod 67 is disposed in an elongated slot in a projection 68 on the rotatable sleeve 53. The rod 67 is attached to the projection 68 by means of spaced nuts 69. A seal 71 is provided around the rod 67 where it passes through an opening in the manifold 56. A compression spring 72 disposed between the bracket 66 and a shoulder 73 on the manifold 56 biases the rod 67 toward the right as viewed in FIG. 5.

As explained hereinbefore, when the operating mechanism of the breaker is released by means of the tripping mechanism, the compression spring 28 drives the operating rods 24 to simultaneously open all of the movable contact members in the interrupter units. Additionally, the operating rod 24 actuates the cams 62 to engage the roller 65 for each one of the rotary valves 52, thereby rotating the sleeve 53 to align the radial openings 54 in the inner and outer members of the valve to permit the interrupting gas to flow radially through the openings into the three interrupting chambers simultaneously. In this manner all of the rotary valves 52 are simultaneously opened.

When the operating rods 24 have moved to a position in which the contact members are fully opened, the roller 65 is disengaged from the cam 62, thereby permitting the spring 72 to close the rotary valve. Since the interrupting operation is completed at this time, the flow of interrupting gas into the interrupting chamber is no longer required. The rotary valves are temporarily opened during reclosing of the contact members, but this does not adversely alfect operation of the circuit breaker.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a single modified rotary valve 52 is utilized to control the fiow of interrupting gas from the high pressure reservoir 7 to all three of the interrupting units 21, 22 and 2 3. The manifold 56 may be formed integrally with the support casting member 17'. The manifold is divided into three compartments 76, 77 and 78 by partition members 79. A stationary outer sleeve 81 may be pressed into openings provided in the manifold 56'. An inner sleeve 82 is rotatably mounted in the outer sleeve 81. The left-hand end of the inner sleeve is closed by an end wall 83 and the right-hand end of the inner sleeve 82 is connected to the interior of the reservoir 7 through a passageway 34 in the end wall of the reservoir 7.

The compartment 76 of the manifold 56' is connected to the interrupting chamber 37 of the first interrupter 21 through a passageway 85 in the support member 17'. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the compartment 77 is connected to an extension 86 on the support member 17' for the second interrupter unit 22 through a blast tube 87. Likewise, the compartment 7 8 is connected to the third interrupter unit 23 through a blast tube 83.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the radially-directed holes 54 in the inner sleeve 82 are similar to the holes 54 previously described. The openings in the stationary outer sleeve 81 are of different sizes. Openings 91 within the compartment 76 of the manifold are similar in size and shape to the openings 54. Openings 92 in the compartment 77 are elongated slots, being substantially twice the size of the openings 91. Likewise, openings 93 within the compartment 78 are elongated slots, being substantially three times the size of the opening 91.

In this manner the openings 54' in the inner sleeve register with the openings in the outer sleeve in sequential relation. The openings in the compartment 78 register first as the inner sleeve is rotated and remain open during continuance of the rotation of the inner sleeve. The openings in the compartment 77 register second in sequence and remain open due to the elongation of the slots 92. The openings in the compartment 76 register last in the sequence.

Thus, gas starts flowing from the reservoir 7 into the compartment 78 and to the interrupter unit 23 before gas flows through the compartment 77 to the interrupter 22. Likewise, gas star-ts flowing to the interrupter 2 1, which is the closest to the rotary blast valve, last in the sequence. Thus, the opening of the rotary valve may b timed to permit the interrupting gas to reach the three interrupter units at substantially the same time. In this manner the effectiveness of the interrupting gas in the arc-extinguishing operation is improved. The inner sleeve 82 may be rotated by means of a projection 68 corresponding to the projection 68 on the outer sleeve of the rotary valve 52 previously described. Cam means actuated by the operating rod 24 may be utilized to rotate the sleeve 82 in the manner previously described.

FIGS. 10 to 13, inclusive, show the contacts for one break of a double-break circuit interrupter of the type disclosed in a copendin-g application Ser. No. 374,708, filed June 12, 1964, now US. Patent 3,291,947, issued Dec. 13, 1966, to R. C. Van Sickle and assigned to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The structure shown in FIG. 10 includes a terminal bushing 101 which extends through a tank (not shown), a stationary tubular contact 102 supported by the bushing 101, a hollow rotatable arm 103 and a movable contact assembly 104 carried by the arm 103.

As shown more clearly in FIGS. 11 and 12, the arm 103 is rotated by a lever 107 which is actuated by an 105 attached to a reservoir 106 containing a compressed interrupting gas, such as SP gas. The bearing support 105 surrounds an opening in the reservoir 106. The arm 103 is rotated by a lever 107 which is actuated by an operating mechanism (not shown) in the manner described in copending application, Ser. No. 374,708.

lAs shown in FIG. 10, the contact assembly 104 comprises a generally tubular arcing contact 108 surrounded by a plurality of spring-biased contact fingers 109 which engage the outside of the tubular contact 102 when the arm 103 is rotated to the closed position. A generally cylindrical insulating orifice member 111 is attached by a clamping ring 112 to a flange-d ring 113 which is the top portion of an end housing 114 attached to the end of the arm 103. The ring 113 and a flanged ring 1 15 at the bottom of the housing 114 are secured to the end of the arm 103. A flanged base 116 of the tubular contact 108 is attached to the ring 115. The orifice 111 directs the flow of the compressed gas through the vented stationary and moving contacts 102 and 108, respectively, as shown by the arrows, during an arc interruption.

'In order to control the flow of gas from the reservoir 106 through the bearing support 105 and the arm 10 3, a rotary valve 121 of the type hereinbefore described is provided around the contact assembly 104-. The valve comprises an inner sleeve 122 and an outer sleeve 123 rotatably mounted on the sleeve 122. The upper end of the sleeve 122 is secured to the inner periphery of the ring 113 and the lower end has a flange 124 attached to the ring 115. A plurality of radial holes 125 extend through the sleeves 122 and 123. When the holes are aligned, gas is permitted to flow from the arm 103 through the holes into the area between the sleeve 122 and the contact fingers 109 and thence into the orifice 111 and out through the contacts 102 and 108 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 10.

One method of rotating the sleeve 123 with movement of the arm 103 is shown in FIG. 11. A non-rotatable cover plate 126 is attached to the end of the bearing support 105. A cam support plate 127 is fixedly attached to the plate 126 by spacers 128. A cam surface 129 on the plate 127 engages a roller 13 1 on one end of a push rod 132 the other end of which is attached to a projection 133 on the sleeve 123 (-see FIG. The rod 132 extends through the housing wall 114 and a spring 134 biases the roller 131 against the cam 12-9. Thus, when the arm 103 rotate the rotary valve 121 is operated in a manner similar to the valve 52 hereinbefore described.

Another method of operating the rotary valve 121 is shown in FIG. 12. In this case a cover plate 126- is rotatably attached to the end of the bearing support 1% so that the plate is free to rotate with the arm 103. A support plate 127' is slidably mounted on guide pins 135 attached to the cover plate 126. One end of a valve operating rod 132' is attached to the plate 127 and the other end is attached to the projection 133 on the sleeve v123. Compression springs 136 on the guide pins 135 bias the plate 127' away from the cover plate 126. A lever 137 pivotally mounted at 138 is actuated by a cam 139 to move the plate 127' toward the plate 126', thereby operating the valve 121 by means of the rod 132'. The cam 139 is driven by the mechanism which rotates the arm 103 in the manner described in the copending application Ser. No. 374,708.

In the structure shown in FIG. 13, the rotary valve 121' is mounted around the orifice member 111' and the housing 114 is extended to enclose the portion of the orifice member which is surrounded by the valve 121'. The inner sleeve 122 is mounted directly on the outer periphery of the orifice member and the radially-directed holes 125 extend through the orifice member. Additional holes 141 are provided in the ring 1&3 to permit gas to flow from the arm 103 into the area between the housing 114 and the valve 121. The sleeve 123' may be rotated with movement of the arm 10 3 in the manner previously described. The present arrangements have the advantage of locating the blast valve near the interrupting contact members.

It will be understood that the rotary valve of the type herein described may be utilized for programming a flow of fluid to various operating mechanisms by connecting the mechanisms to different openings in the valve. Furthermore, the valve is suitable for system requiring a short blast or puff of the pressure fluid since motion in one direction could make it go from close to open to close. The length of the puff would be governed by the speed of the operating rod. A second close-open close operation would be immediately available by pulling the operating rod back to its original position. This feature makes it possible to conserve an interrupting gas during arc extinguishing. It will also be understood that a rotary valve of the type herein described may be utilized for various applications where high speed opening is required, since a short stroke is suflicient to effect full opening and significant flow is established before full opening is attained.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the rotary valve herein described is particularly suitable for use in circuit breakers of the gas blast type, but it is not limited to such applications. The valve increases the effectiveness of an interrupting gas in extinguishing an are by proper timing of the flow of the gas to the interrupting chambers of a circuit breaker. It further provides the interrupting chamber with a high pressure blast of gas rather than a relatively slow build up of gas pressure due to the long pipes involved, thus further increasing its interrupting ability.

Since numerous changes may be made in the above described construction, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim as my invention:

1. A gas-blast type of circuit interrupter including means defining a cylindrical arcing chamber, separable contact means separable within said arcing chamber to establish an arc, means defining a high-pressure gas reservoir, blastvalve means for controlling a flow of high-pressure gas from said high-pressure reservoir into said arcing chamber from all radial directions to eflect arc extinction, said blast-valve means being of the rotary type and comprising a cylindrical valve sleeve rota-tably mounted on the cylindrical wall of the arc chamber, a plurality of holes extending both through the sleeve and also through the wall of the arc chamber, and means synchronized with the contact separation movement to effect rotation of said valve sleeve to effect alignment of said holes, Whereby a flow of high-pressure gas enters into said arcing chamber from all radial directions to effect high-speed interruption of the arc.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein a stationary inner metalic sleeve (59) is provided having holes, and gasket means surrounds at least some of the holes in said metallic sleeve (50).

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein cam means actuates the cylindrical valve sleeve.

4. The combination of claim 1, wherein the rotatablymounted valve sleeve is biased to the closed position.

5. A rotary blast valve comprising an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve coaxial with the inner sleeve, a plurality of circumferential rows of openings extending through the sleeves, the openings in adjacent rows in the outer sleeve being of different lengths circumferentially, and means for rotating one of the sleeves to cause openings in the inner sleeve to register with openings in the outer sleeve sequentially to permit a fluid to flow through the openings.

6. A rotary blast valve comprising an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve coaxial with the inner sleeve, a plurality of circumferential rows of openings extending through the sleeves, the openings in adjacent rows in the outer sleeve being of different lengths ciroumferentially, means for rotating the inner sleeve to cause openings in the inner sleeve to register with openings in the outer sleeve sequentially to permit a fluid to flow through the openings, and manifold means for each circumferential row of openings.

7. In a circuit breaker, in combination, a tank containing an interrupting gas, a reservoir containing the same kind of gas at a higher pressure than the tank, a plurality of interrupting chambers in the tank, each chamber having a generally cylindrical wall, a sleeve rotatably mounted on each wall, a manifold surrounding each sleeve and all the manifolds being connected to the reservoir, a plurality of holes extending through each sleeve and each wall, contact members within each chamber, operating means for simultaneously opening the contact members in all of the chambers, and means actuated by said operating means for rotating all the sleeves to admit gas through aligned holes into each chamber from its respective manifold.

8. In a circuit breaker, in combination, a tank containing an interrupting gas, a reservoir containing the same kind of gas at a higher pressure than the tank, a plurality of interrupting chambers in the tank, each chamber having a generally cylindrical wall, a sleeve rotatably mounted on each wall, a manifold surrounding each sleeve and all the manifolds being connected to the reservoir, a plurality of holes extending through each sleeve and each Wall, contact members within each chamber, reciprocating means for simultaneously opening the contact members in all of the chambers, and cam means actuated by said reciprocating means for rotating all the sleeves to admit gas through aligned holes into each chamber from its respective manifold.

9. In a circuit breaker, in combination, a tank containing an interrupting gas, a reservoir containing the same kind of gas at a higher pressure than the tank, a plurality of interrupting chambers in the tank, contact members within each chamber, :a rotary blast valve comprising an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve coaxial with the inner sleeve, said inner sleeve being connected to said reservoir, a plurality of circumferential rows of openings extending through the sleeves, the openings in adjacent rows in the outer sleeve being of different lengths circumferentially, manifold means for connecting each row of openings to one of the interrupting chambers, operating means for simultaneously opening the contact members in all of the chambers, and means actuated by said operating means for rotating the inner sleeve to register with openings in the outer sleeve sequentially to permit gas to start flowing from the reservoir through the openings and the manifold means to each interrupting chamber at different times.

10. A rotary valve comprising an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve coaxial with the inner sleeve, a plurality of circumferential rows of openings extending through the sleeves, the openings in adjacent rows in one of the sleeves being of different sizes, and means for rotating one of the sleeves to cause openings in the inner sleeve to register with openings in the outer sleeve sequentially to permit a fluid to flow through the openings.

11. In a circuit breaker, in combination, a generally cylindrical tank containing an arc-extinguishing gas, a high-pressure reservoir disposed at one end of the tank and containing the same arc-extinguishing gas at a higher pressure than in the tank, a plurality of interrupting chambers spaced longitudinally along the inside of the tank at different distances from the high-pressure reservoir, separable contact member disposed within each interrupting chamber, operating means for simultaneously separating the separable contact members in all of the interrupting chambers, valve means having a plurality of manifolds (76, 77, 78) associated therewith and separate blast tubes pneumatically connecting individual manifolds with in dividual interrupting chambers, said valve means additionally having individual valve elements (91, 92, 93) for individually controlling the individual manifolds (76, 77, 78), said valve means being operable in response to operation of said operating means to sequentially actuate the valve elements to sequentially admit high-pressure gas from the high-pressure reservoir into the individual blast tubes, whereby high-pressure gas is first admitted into the most remote interrupting chamber and then sequentially to the other less-remote interrupting chambers for elfecting substantially simultaneous blasting into all the interrupting chambers.

12. A two-break gas-blast circuit breaker including a pair of spaced stationary contacts, a high-pressure reservoir having a hollow bearing support, a gas-conducting rotatable hollow contact arm having a pair of movable contacts at opposite ends thereof, the two movable contacts making separable engagement with said spaced pair of stationary contacts, means defining a cylindrical arcing chamber carried at each end of said hollow gas-conducting arm to direct gas flow at the respective established are drawn at the respective separable contacts, blast-valve means for controlling a flow of high-pressure gas from said high-pressure reservoir into said arcing chamber from all radial directions to effect are extinction, said blastvalve means being of the rotary type and comprising a cylindrical valve sleeve rotatably mounted on the cylindrical wall of the arc chamber, a plurality of holes ex tending both through the sleeve and also through the wall of the arc chamber, and means synchronized with the contact separation movement to effect rotation of said valve sleeve to effect alignment of said holes, whereby a flow of high-pressure gas enters into said arcing chamber from all radial directions to effect high-speed interruption of the arc.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,302 8/1912 Miller 251-345 1,593,766 7/1926 Hurd 137599 X 3,005,468 10/1961 Erwin et al. 2S1345 X 3,150,245 9/1964 Leeds et a1. 200148 3,207,878 9/1965 Friedrich et al 200-448 3,291,947 12/1966 Van Sickle 200l48 ROBERT S. MACON, Primary Examiner. 

